Photos below:
In other notes- April has been a "quieter" month overall. We've had several weeks without teams and had a MAJOR spring cleaning at the GuestHouse/Pharmacy. We "renovated" the entire Pharmacy and also Room 14, which is where my "work office" and extra meds are located. Next up is of course the Scary Room. That overhaul will take place this summer. After the Scary Room, I'll finish up at the Clinic, where I hope to work on an overall inventory of supplies and equipment in preparation for the New Clinic. Construction is moving FAST on the new land (see Jeff's blog, as well as Ken Potter's blog for updated info on the new clinic!) and they will begin to pour cement hopefully this week. May is a month full of our college teams, which is really fun. They are super passionate and eager to serve and we have several team weeks that are so full that we will set sail to TWO barrio sites every day. Next week we will begin to visit the sites in preparation for the mobile clinics.
Good stuff going on with SRI- we have started a Creole class! Pastor Enol is teaching the translators (and me sometimes too!) Creole in order to better serve our Haitian neighbors in the mobile clinics. My mind is already full of a jumble of Spanish and English but I'm going to try to throw some extra Creole words in there as well. Photo below of our FUN class! :)
Blood. I can't tell you how stressful I sometimes feel at our clinic with no blood bank. GYN surgery is often the most difficult because of the anemia that we see in our patients. Most patients are asked to find blood via a family member before surgery but not everyone has success in their search. Below is a shot of our very GIVING Nef (more than a translator!)....giving up his blood for a surgical patient. Laura also donated (in the nick of time, actually!) but I don't have a picture of her in the lab. Sometimes teams laugh for a minute when I ask them what blood type they are upon arrival. Oh the things that we have to think of here! I miss the days of making a quick phone call to the blood bank to ask for a unit of blood. Please note that Nef is still wearing his scrubs because he went right back to the OR to translate for the surgeon after he donated blood.
Personally I'm enjoying my quiet times at our little apartment. I love our patio and my plants outside and have recently tried to plant vegetables, zinnias, herbs, and sunflowers! My neighbors think that I'm nuts as I wander around with my watering can in the mornings while Lazzy flies around my feet. We also have a tiny mango tree, some papaya trees/plants (with fruit on them!), a lemon or lime tree, some guanabana trees, lots of chinola vines (some with fruit!), and some type of peas that grow up our bedroom windows. Although our patio is small, it's brimming with life! On our back patio are our 4 hens and one rooster...it's LOUD here in the mornings!
Marriage is an adventure with my favorite adventurer! Our best times together remain the very simplest of things...visiting friends and family together and sometimes walking together on Tuesday nights at the track across the street. We are looking forward to a Solid Rock staff retreat next weekend in Jarabacoa at a hostel that we stayed at on our honeymoon. Monchy will be starting in the Paramedic Program in several weeks as he finishes up his semester at the university.
This ministry thing continues to amaze me. It's HARD and beautiful at the same time. We struggle at the difficulty of working with real live broken folks who fumble and soar at the same time, just like we do. Recently I participated in a woman's spiritual retreat with Kari, Laura, and Kamanda here. There were about 50 million things that I soaked in and want to remember and share but 3 big points remain on my heart this morning. One is to RECEIVE. One is to FOLLOW (Jesus!). And the last is to REST. We were supposed to release things in our lives that prevent those 3 points. Needless to say, I am still releasing! And will continue to do so. The retreat also spoke about expectations, our expectations of ourselves, of others, of God and then God's expectations of US. That just blew me away. It turns out I have tons of expectations...for me, for others (HELLO husband! hahaha!), and for God. Lots of stuff to release...and I'm still working on that. For those ladies who may be interested in a retreat...check out velvet ashes.com. Fabulous fabulous experience.
Thanks for all the prayers, dear friends. They are FELT and celebrated. Over the next several months I will begin (again!) the process of paperwork to be a legal resident of the DR. As you may know, this has been a very difficult and costly journey and still hasn't been resolved. I am not attempting to become a citizen but only a legal resident. I would greatly appreciate your prayers in this matter. Other prayer requests include strength for the journey (May will be very busy!), continued growth in our marriage, the ability to find quality time together for Monch and I, the continued search for Christian support and community here in San Juan, and continued safety (we never take travel and/or commuting here for granted) and health. I feel like I state this a million times...but I would never be here except for the love, prayers, and financial support of you guys. THANK YOU for believing in God's work here!
